If you or someone you know has been sexually abused by the clergy...
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Faithful Citizenship

  • October 17, 2008
  • Essential Homily on Faithful Citizenship by Archbishop John C. Nienstedt for October 18 and 19
  • Download full homily as pdf file here.

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY OF YEAR (A)
October 18-19, 2008
CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK, SHIELDSVILLE
CHURCH OF ST. THOMAS, ST. PAUL
BY THE MOST REVEREND JOHN C. NIENSTEDT

READINGS: Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
1 Th. 1:1-5b
Matthew 22:15-21

The background for today’s Gospel account has to do with the census or poll tax demanded of every citizen living in Israel under Roman domination during the time of Jesus. This tax could only be paid in Roman coinage. The Palestinian Jews hated the presence of the Roman occupiers and highly resented having to pay a tax with coins that acknowledged Caesar as king. For the Jew, only God was king. Paying this tax was, in their minds, an insult to God.

The Herodians were of a different persuasion. King Herod, himself, was the puppet of the Roman authorities and played up to the occupiers for political gain. Ordinarily, Herodians would have nothing to do with the Pharisees, but they, like the Jews, saw Jesus as a threat to their well-being. They were determined to discredit him.

So the Pharisees and Herodians together set a trap with the question: "Is it lawful to pay the tax or not?" If Jesus says, "yes," he incurs the anger of the Jewish population. If he says, "no," the Herodians will turn him over to the Romans on the grounds of high treason.

Jesus shows his cleverness by having both sides produce the Roman coin used to pay the tax. By having that coin on their person, the inquirers prove that they are disingenuous since they themselves were obviously ready to pay the tax. Jesus gets off the hook moreover by saying, "Give to Caesar the coin that is Caesar's" but then adds, "Give to God what is God's." In other words, all authority in heaven and earth belongs to God—He is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords! All earthly leaders, including Caesar, must ultimately acknowledge God’s authority over them. Shouldn’t, therefore, our obligations to God take precedence over all our other obligations as citizens? The relevance of this Gospel passage to this moment in our nation’s history is quite real. We are in the midst of a national election which will have serious consequences for our future. In that context, it is important to remember and reflect upon the fact that political power, too, comes from God and, as such, should be used for the benefit of the common good.

I have been at pains to recommend to Catholics of our Archdiocese the U.S. Bishops’ document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. In it, the Bishops explain:

  1. That Catholics ought to exercise their right and duty to vote.
  2. That the Church does not tell people who to vote for or what party to support.
  3. That Church does have a place in the public square to weigh in on moral issues that have serious spiritual repercussions on individuals as well as society at large.

One of the points that is often overlooked in this document is what it calls the two temptations to distort the Church’s defense of human life and dignity.

The first temptation is to make no ethical distinction between the different kind of issues involving human life and dignity. This temptation to moral equivalency is wrong because issues like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, genocide, racism and targeting noncombatants in acts of terror in war are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. We call these “intrinsically evil” actions. Other issues such as the economy, immigration reform and health care have moral consequences and thus, do call for our conscientious attention. Nevertheless, people of good conscience can have differing viewpoints on how to deal with them. “Intrinsically evil actions,” on the other hand, are always to be opposed.

The second temptation which the bishops point out is that of overemphasizing the distinctions as a way of dismissing or ignoring other serious threats to human life and dignity. Racism, the death penalty, unjust war, the use of torture and other serious moral issues challenge our consciences and require us to act. Catholics are urged to seriously consider the Church’s teachings on these issues.

The bishops conclude their reflections by saying, "In preparing to vote, it is essential for Catholics to be guided by a well-formed conscience that recognizes that all issues do not carry the same moral weight and that the moral obligation to oppose intrinsically evil acts has a special claim on our consciences and our actions."

There is so much more helpful material contained in this document from the bishops, and it can be downloaded for free at www.faithfulcitizenship.org. I urge you to read the text. Forming our consciences according to the teachings of our Catholic faith in preparing to vote is a means of making the Gospel come alive in the here and now. As St. Paul tells us in our second reading, the Gospel comes to us "with power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction." With such influences, we can surely have confidence in rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but even more so in rendering to God what is properly God’s.

Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-4400
communications@archspm.org